In her Crib Sheet, CNN's Candy Crowley wraps the news from Sunday's political talk shows.

Reform or No Financial Reform Deal?

Seriously, who knows? Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) says “…we’re conceptually very, very close.” (The dictionary defines concept as “a general notion or idea.” Not sure how close a close conceptual agreement would get us to a bill on the President’s desk.) So, no agreement yet, but Shelby and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) looked quite agreeable sitting side by side on NBC, patting one another’s arms, talking about their negotiations for a bipartisan reform bill. Dodd said “We’re getting there.” Even if we’re not sure where there is, conceptually speaking.

On CNN, Senators Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) agreed, conceptually, that their respective parties really want financial regulation reform even as Chambliss bemoaned the difficulty of having “substantive bipartisan conversations.”

But wait—there’s more. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), on Fox, said he thinks there’s a “…good chance we’re going to get it.” (but not likely before tomorrow’s vote on whether to proceed with a reform bill.)

Still, conceptually, that’s big.

Next Please?

Interestingly, the apparent decision by Senate Democrats to move to immigration reform (instead of climate change) got a fairly muted response for something that the GOP sees as a blatantly political effort by Democrats to placate Hispanic American voters and to jam up Republicans on a difficult issue. Shelby and Chambliss essentially said immigration reform would be just fine, right after we figure out how to secure the borders. Is that an echo I hear?

Not every Democrat seems enthused either. Sen. Menendez argued gamely that the Senate can do both the energy AND immigration reform this year, which would be climate change of a different sort.
P.S. on Chambliss. He said expanding the Republican base is “probably not” helped by Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s blast at Florida Gov. Charlie Crist last week. Cheney accused Crist of not being a real Republican. Crist, trailing badly in his Republican primary race with Marco Rubio, is expected to decide this week whether to drop out and run as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Justice Jennifer Granholm?

Probably not. The Michigan governor, who made it to the vetting level during the last Supreme Court vacancy, is mum on the specifics this time around. But, Granholm (term-limited in her current job) made a pretty good case for why someone without federal appellate court experience would make a good addition to the High Court, conceptually.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Candy

Financial ReformSen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) on NBC’s “Meet the Press”“Not yet, but we're getting there, like Sen. Dodd said, we're working closely together, I think we're conceptually very, very close. This is very complicated piece of legislation, over 1300 pages as the Dodd bill now sands. What we're trying to do is improve two or three things in it. It's very tedious. We're going to continue to work today, as Senator Dodd said. I think we're closer than we've ever been.”

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) on NBC’s “Meet the Press”“We're getting there. We're close. We've got more work to do. We're going to be meeting the day, in fact, later today to talk about it. We're not there yet. I would hope we could get the votes tomorrow when we have this motion to proceed, to start the debate.”

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) on CNN’s “State of the Union”“Make no mistake about it. We have got to have tougher regulations on Wall Street. We have got to have tougher sanctions. And we hope we can get together in a bipartisan way to do that. It's been pretty difficult as of late to have much in the way of substantive bipartisan conversations like this. We are still hoping.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) on “Fox News Sunday”“We don't have a bipartisan compromise yet. But I think there is a good chance we're going to get it. What I'd like to see is an opportunity to prevent the Democrats from doing from the financial services industry what they just did to the healthcare of this country.”

Immigration debateSen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) on NBC’s “Meet the Press”
Gregory: “Do you think you'll see comprehensive immigration reform legislation pass this year?
Shelby: “Maybe. We've seen it before. It hasn't passed.”
Gregory: “You think it would be a good idea?”
Shelby: “I think we have to look at the details."
Gregory: “But it's the right time? “
Shelby: “First thing we better do is enforce our borders and know who is here and who comes and who leaves. That's number one and then go into the rest.”

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) on CNN’s “State of the Union”“Border states have unique problems when it comes to immigration. We have an illegal alien problem here in Georgia, but it pales in comparison to what's going on (in Arizona). ...We have a national problem. It is a national issue that needs to be addressed. And I hope we can do it in a reasonable and cautious manner, not let the emotions of people run away with this. …I'm not sure how you can really justify bringing either one of them up at this point. …We've got a lot of work left on our plate between now and the end of the summer. And we're starting on financial regulatory reform, I assume, this week. That's going to consume an extensive period of time. I'm not sure where you find the time to deal with these other major issues.”

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) on CNN’s “State of the Union”
Menendez: “I think what Harry Reid simply said is that we're going to get to both issues in this session. And he actually...
Crowley: “Is that possible, Senator?”
Menendez: “I think it is. And he actually noted that, in fact, more work had been done on climate change than on immigration. So whichever is ready to go up would likely come up after we get through Wall Street reform, which is incredibly important to this country…”

Florida’s GOP PrimarySen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) on CNN’s “State of the Union” responds to Former Vice President Cheney’s remarks“Well, probably not. But obviously, in politics, everybody is entitled to their own opinion. I know Charlie Crist very well. Lived very close to the Florida line, follow Florida politics, encouraged Governor Crist to run for the Senate when Senator Martinez decided he was not going to run again. And he is involved in a very heated primary with a very good man in Marco Rubio. And you jump on one side or the other occasionally in these races and that's obviously what has happened. And it has stepped up the rhetoric a little bit…”

Dark Horse pick for the High Court?Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-Michigan) on CNN’s “State of the Union”“I think it's a very wise move to consider experience that is not just from the judicial monastery because - I mean not just me but Janet Napolitano, people that have applied the laws that Congress enacts, that have seen their impact on people, that - you know, I mean I'm from the most challenged state in the country. And, you know, for somebody to experience and see what everyday people are feeling and experiencing out there, I think is an important thing to consider.”

soundoff(11 Responses)

Beverly H Tatum

This is just Republican grandstanding on "conceptually" agreeing to financial regulation being put back on the banks. What does "conceptually" mean? We are pretending to go along because the American People hate us but at the last second we will once again not support the bill.

That is the typical Republican game. Pretend to care and then start telling lies and refuse to do anything. Never trust a Republican!

April 25, 2010 04:24 pm at 4:24 pm |

GI Joe

Stall.

Kill bills.

Waterloo.

That's all the republicans know.

They refuse to work to TRY to make life better for the citizens of the United States.

They continue to work for Corporations.

April 25, 2010 04:53 pm at 4:53 pm |

Dan

You guys in the media promised us a new president with change of things in Washington, we got a worse partisan president and thus congress in years. The media is such a bunch of "biased" people that its original role in society got lost and we are just for sale to them (CNN and all the rest). It's been one of the worse years in politics and indeed your guy is good (nothing gets stuck to him) but "change" he is not!

April 25, 2010 05:08 pm at 5:08 pm |

Lynn

Hay, has the Frank Luntz talking points on immigration for the GOP come out yet? Next "Amensty Immigration Bailout for illegals" that should scare people good.

April 25, 2010 05:31 pm at 5:31 pm |

JohnB

Why would anyone vote republican when they bend over backwards to prove that they do not have the American peoples' best interest at heart. TRhey are wolves in sheeps clothing-talking a good speel, but not really believing in anything other then their own interests. They refuse to work with the democrats because they feel that only they have the right answers. Where were those right answers the last 10 years? And of course we have to ask in whose bed have they been laying –corporations of course. Bought and payed for. So either vote independant or democrate from now on until they get the picture that they work for us also.Sometimes you just have to slap a face or two to get someones attention.

April 25, 2010 05:32 pm at 5:32 pm |

Gil

Interestingly that last week the Party of No was saying they had 41 votes against the Financial Reform Bill, but when a poll came out with 80% of Americans supporting the reform they say, "We are close!' Take a vote Monday regardless and let's see how they vote? That will tell you something about this right wing nut case extremists that are obstructionists first and helping America last!

April 25, 2010 05:56 pm at 5:56 pm |

Ken in NC

It is a shame that our members of the Senate cannot multitask. Well let me use another term so they can understand what I am meaning. They cannot walk and chew gum at the same time. Members of the Senate, Democrats and Republicans, should be able to work on several bills at the same time rather than working on only one bill at a time. It is a shame that and Idiot can walk and talk at the same time while Senators can't multitask.

April 25, 2010 06:17 pm at 6:17 pm |

Pragmatic

The GOP had a chance to reform immigration 2000-2008: But they did nothing (as usual) on the difficult challenges.

The GOP does not want immigration discussed before the elections: the GOP can not please their base and diddle Hispanics in the same breath ... so they want to ignore the whole thing ... again!

April 25, 2010 06:53 pm at 6:53 pm |

Patrick

Talk about being unproductive. As a manager, if a member of my staff is not being productive I cut them off – terminate them. Why should I be paying someone for doing nothing?
Healthcare? Now is not the time.
Wall Street reform? Now is not the time.
Immigration? Now is not the time.
Climate change? Now is not the time.
Well if the Republicans don’t believe now is the time to reform these issues that are troubling this great country, why don’t we vote for people who are ready to do something about these issues NOW! There is no need for paying someone to go to congress and do nothing. Talk about FLEECING OF AMERICA.

April 25, 2010 07:44 pm at 7:44 pm |

Artie

Everything a democrat does is an effort to buy some groups vote for democrats usually with our money!